Democracy is in Trouble, Says Former Secretary of State John Kerry

John Kerry, former U.S. Secretary of State, talks with retired Rear Admiral John Kirby in Gaston Hall Oct. 4 about democracy and a wide range of domestic and foreign policies.

October 5, 2018 – Former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told a Georgetown audience yesterday that democracy is “in trouble” because of “an absence of leadership to hold people accountable.”

The former senator from Massachusetts conversed in Gaston Hall with retired Rear Admiral John Kirby, who teaches a course called National Security and Communications for Georgetown’s Master of Science in Foreign Service (MSFS) program, which hosted the event.

“Our democracy right now isn’t working,” said Kerry, who recently authored his autobiography, called Every Day is Extra.“We’re not making big decisions … we have to get [big money] out of politics, we have to get gerrymandering out.”

But Kerry also expressed optimism.

“We’ve been through really tough times in this country before,” he said. “I have total confidence in our institutions in our country. If we can make the issues that matter to you voting issues … then you will be able to build a mandate to rebuild our future, rebuild our democracy.”

Kerry also spoke about a wide range of domestic and foreign policies, including the surge in the number of female candidates running for public office in the United States, the future of diplomacy and foreign policies toward Syria, Yemen, Kenya and Russia and U.S. infrastructure needs.

“Women represent 51 to 52 percent of our nation,” he said. “I don’t know any team that can be successful when half your players are on the bench.”